Aztec Five Suns

myth:aztec_five_suns

Four world-ages, each lit by its own sun, have risen and ended in ruin. To kindle the fifth and present sun, the humble god Nanahuatzin casts himself into the sacred fire and is reborn as the sun in the sky — but it will move only when the gods give their own blood, and so the present world is bought with sacrifice. — Aztec myth